FUR RONDY

In the beginning Fur Rondy was a gathering to sell and trade furs and other goods. It was a time of celebration when the different tribes gathered in Anchorage. Furs are still auctioned and sold during the time. The furs shown here from left to right are ermine, blue fox and several wolves.

The gentlemen had many others including some cow hides from the lower 48. The following pictures show some of the crafts that natives from all over Alaska bring to Anchorage to show and sell during Fur Rondy.

Native Drum

Native drums are used to keep the beat for the dancers. The singing is usually a story telling of some event. The old drums were covered with hides. The lady told us this one is covered with aircraft fabric. They like the sound and it wears much better.

Dance Head Dress

Native celebrations always include dancing. They wear very ornate costumes including this head dress. Also they normally cover their hands.

Grease Dish

The wooden carving was of a duck diving into a pond. It was painted red with a black border and was used to hold grease for dipping food during the meal.

Bone and tusk carvings

This gentlemen had some very interesting carvings many were made from very old bones that are being dug up from burial piles from 5000 to 10000 years old. The darker the color the older they were.

Antique Berry Picker

This wooden handle/bowl with nails is used for picking blue berries. By passing the nails through the bushes the berries are removed and fall into the cup. The pan was used for separating the small, undeveloped berries. This was the ladies grandmother's picker but they were selling new ones made of cottonwood, spruce and cedars and were prices from $65 to $150.

Native Dress

Parkas have changed from a pullover design to one with a front zippered closing, Women's parkas have dropped the front and back u-shaped flap in favor of a short ruffled skirt attached to the bottom, fur lined parkas now are covered with a cloth shell (usually a bright flowered print or cotton velvet), and a cloth version of the old pullover parka (with a two handed pocket), the Kuspuk (also spelled Quaspeq), has become the accepted dress for traditional dancing.